October Part 3

We had a blast our second day at Disneyland. 

We felt like we really got into a rhythm and were able to do so many things.

We did a lot of kid swapping throughout the day so we could maximize our time there.

The park is smartly designed. There are usually kiddie rides next to bigger rides.

That way no one misses out on the fun!

I did so much research to prepare for this trip. I kid you not, but I actually had a binder full of stuff.

I studied that thing like nobodies business. Thank you Pinterest.

As per many people's suggestions, I packed little toys and tons of snacks for the kids.

We survived a lot of things that way.

It was so fun to meet the characters. The kids loved that part.

One of our favorite to meet was Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh. He was so sweet.

Both Max and Sam gave him several hugs before leaving. Too cute!

 

This was our second day watching Mickey's Soundsational Parade.

This funny duck crossed the road in the same spot right as the parade began both times.

We had awesome seats both times and the characters were so fun to watch.

I imagine that they love to make people smile.

We pushed our kids hard every day and stayed at the parks from opening to closing.

Our last night in Disneyland, we camped out on Main Street for several hours so we could watch the Night Parade and fireworks show. It was a long time, but well worth the wait.

The light parade was amazing, followed by an incredible fireworks show.

They actually made it snow while "Let It Go" was piped through the speakers along Main Street.

I'm not going to lie, but I actually cried because it was so beautiful.

We spent our last day in Anaheim at Disney California Adventure.

Again, another awesome day, although, I think we were all a little tired by the time we left.

The boys loved this statue of Walt and Mickey.

We of course had to meet Queen Elsa and Princess Anna.

The boys had a rough time, but Kathryn loved meeting them and showing Elsa her shirt.

We visited Olaf right after and the boys did a little better. He is their favorite after all.

Every single snowman that Sam sees now is Olaf. That's how much he loves him.

 

As I said earlier, we did a lot of kid swapping.

Kathryn was able to ride all the big rides as long as she had an adult with her.

And Max was able to ride on about half of the big rides.

Kathryn and Michael's favorite ride was California Screamin'. 

Between going with Michael and me, she rode it seven times. I couldn't do it that many times.

She and Michael are my thrill seekers. And surprisingly, Maxwell is turning into one too.

  

We loved Cars Land. It was so surreal to walk down the street and feel like you were in the movie.

We all loved Radiator Springs. The ride was so much fun and we got to ride it several times.

Just some down time playing in the water. I wish I had brought some extra clothes. 

Max wasn't too happy after walking around in wet clothes for several hours.

One of Max's favorite rides was The Hollywood Tower of Terror.

Michael took him, but I was scared to death for him. Everyone was shocked that he was there.

 The whole elevator cheered when Max yelled out how fun it was when the ride was over.

Goodbye Disneyland. We love you!

October Part 2

Through a lot of bribery on many different fronts, we promised our kids a trip to the beach.

 What we didn't tell them, was that we were secretly planning a trip to Disneyland.

We had a hard time deciding if we should go in the first place.

With three young children, we didn't know if it would be worth it yet.

But after going, I will say, it was perfect. It was magical. And I am SO glad we didn't wait.

We packed up the car and left at 4 a.m. on a Friday. 

We had to pull Kathryn out of school for six days, but it was worth it. She's only in first grade.

We were on the road for about 14 hours the first day (including stops, meals and potty breaks).

The kids were awesome! They only started having meltdowns about the last hour of the first day.

We stayed in a town about an hour from Anaheim the first night. 

Honestly, we wished we would've driven the extra hour and stayed in our hotel next to Disneyland, 

but we didn't know how the kids would do in the car for so long.

So, we woke up bright and early and drove to Anaheim. 

We dropped our car off at the hotel and hopped on the bus headed to Disneyland.

At this point, the kids still had no idea where we were going. 

When the bus driver announced that the next stop was Disneyland, Kathryn got so excited.

She asked, "can we go to Disneyland?" Everyone around us got a good laugh at our surprise.

We bought four-day park hopper tickets for Disneyland and California Adventure.

We wanted to be able to do everything without feeling rushed.

Michael had never been to Disneyland and the last time I had been was 16 years ago.

We didn't really know what to expect, especially with three kids in tow. 

To be honest, our first day was hot, overwhelming and a little disappointing.

It was a Saturday before Halloween, so it was extra crowded, and we felt like fish out of water.

We didn't know how to work the fast pass or stroller swap system and we were stressed.

We did the best we could, but promised each other we'd figure it out.

One thing that we loved were all the parades and shows. 

We were able to watch all the big shows that were available over the four days we were there.

One of my all-time favorites was Mickey's Soundsational Parade in Disneyland.  

We actually watched it both days we were there.

We spent a lovely and relaxing day at the beach. 

It was a nice break from our first day at Disneyland. 

We knew we would never want to go back if we didn't take a break. 

After all, going to the beach was why the kids were so excited to go to California.

On Monday, we woke up bright and early and went to California Adventure.

Oh my goodness, it was amazing!!! It was practically dead compared to our Saturday in Disneyland.

We figured out how to use the fast pass and stroller swap system and we had a real plan.

We had so much fun. The kids loved all the rides and meeting the characters.

We've never really pushed a lot of Disney on our kids.

They hadn't seen a lot of the older Disney movies before this trip, and didn't know a lot of the characters, but we made sure to prepare them before we got there.

Oh my goodness, Max loved Donald Duck. He was just over the moon about him.

And Sammy loved Mickey Mouse. He got so excited every time he saw Mickey. It made us so happy.

When we booked our trip, we also scheduled a premium character dining package.

We decided to go to Ariel's Grotto so Kathryn could meet the princesses.

It was such a fun experience. We got to meet Ariel, Belle, Tiana, Cinderella and Rapunzel.

Even the boys loved it. Sammy flirted with all those beautiful princesses. 

We bought the kids special shirts for the trip.

And Michael, my sweetheart, bought one for me too! He loves to make things fun.

We enjoyed the Pixar Parade in California Adventure (not as energetic as the Soundsational Parade).

It was so fun seeing all those characters in real life.

(Firework show from our hotel window one evening)